Edfu – Luxor

A more reasonable start to the day – HA – as we congregated at 5:45 a.m. for a carriage ride through the town of Edfu to a massive Greco Roman temple honouring Horus, god of the sky. The use of a caleche was an age old tradition here that the tour companies sought to change a number of years ago. The reaction by the locals was so threatening that now all the cruise boats must use the carriages. It’s like the mass start to a running race. A total of about 150 carriages loaded up with 3 tourists each careen through town at various speeds depending on the willingness of the passengers and, presumably, the horse. The bench up beside the driver is particularly perilous but everyone was delivered safely to the temple and subsequently back to the boat.

Thereafter we set sail for Luxor and spent a very lazy afternoon alternating between the heat (99F, 37C) of the upper deck and the cool AC in our cabin. Mo & Mark somehow were assigned the one suite with balcony on the ship and thus it’s a natural gathering spot for family drinks and chats.

The river is busy with these cruise boats however the downturn in tourism means dozens are tied up and sit idle. This is an example of the boat we’re on.

The Nile truly is the lifeblood of the country. Lush vegetation for 500 m then rock and sand stretching forever. Very little evidence of of people along the way although since this is prime farmland there must be small villages we couldn’t see.

Upon arrival in Luxor our group walked to town and were hit by a cacophony of sound. A large open air festival, unmufflered motor bikes, the blaring call to prayer, car horns, and shouting vendors created an unbelievable wall of sound. The Luxor temple dominates the town centre and we saw it in the light and dark, full moon included.

The mandatory wander through the souk searching for the perfect ‘must have’ and a final family picture for the day completed our outing (and yes the matching shorts was somewhat planned).